


Dark

by Forgive_Me_Severus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha/Omega Dynamics, Being held hostage, Consensual vaginal sex, Creature Fic, Dark fic, Explicit Consensual Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Threats, Explicit Threats, F/M, Forced Voyeurism: Masturbation, Forcibly being restrained, Greyback is severely fucked up, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Kidnapping, Knotting, Mating, Mostly follows canon through the Skirmish at Malfoy Manor, Non-con elements (not Draco), Semi-graphic description of child birth, Threat/Mention of Beastiality (very brief), Threats of Forced Impregnation, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, Threats of Violence Against an Unborn Child, Threats/Mentions of Cannibalism, Unlikeable Ron Weasley, Varying levels of depravity, War Era What If, Werewolf!Draco, What if Dobby didn't save Hermione at the Manor, consensual oral sex, non-con situations, werewolf heats, werewolf!hermione
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:40:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forgive_Me_Severus/pseuds/Forgive_Me_Severus
Summary: "Hermione, we’ve had this conversation many times. From our trysts in the library during sixth year to the nightly pillow talk while lying on a bed made for one at The Hog’s Head - and every stolen moment in between… you brought light into my dark life. I was a shell of a human being, a pawn in my father’s game of chess, a puppet for a mad man – and you were the light at the end of that dark tunnel. You made me want to do better, be better. You have that effect on people, you know. Love, Draco."What would have happened if Dobby left Hermione behind at Malfoy Manor? What would have happened if she had, indeed, been given to Greyback?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 34
Kudos: 101
Collections: Midnight Moonrise Fest 2021





	Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Wizarding World. Some dialogue was borrowed from page 474 of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.' The canon events in this story are a mix of book and movie. Anything recognizable is not mine. I am not making money from the Harry Potter fanfiction stories I write. 
> 
> Major thanks to PaleandBroodingsGirl for beta-ing!
> 
> //PLEASE HEED THE TAGS. THIS IS A DARK FIC. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.//
> 
> Tag clarification: The non-con and all of the threats are on the part of Greyback, NOT Draco. 
> 
> I've wanted to write a werewolf!Hermione fic for a while. I asked myself this question: What would have happened if Hermione didn't escape Malfoy Manor and Bellatrix indeed gave her to Greyback? I've been sitting on this question/idea for months, so I decided to explore this 'What if?' for the 'Midnight Moonrise Fest' hosted by the Bunnies & Plots & Too Many OneShots Facebook group. It definitely took several (dark) turns I wasn't expecting, though, so just make sure you mind the tags.
> 
> Just a forewarning about overall story arch: You may (or may not) have unanswered questions by the time you finish reading this story. I did this on purpose. Just keep that in mind.
> 
> The word/place I chose for the fest was 'The Leaky Cauldron.'

* * *

* * *

_Darkness threatened to swallow her._

_“Dobby! Dobby, wait! Hermione! We can’t leave Hermione!” Harry screamed, trying to wrestle his arm away from Dobby’s firm grip._

_“Dobby must get Harry Potter to safety. Harry Potter’s friends must be safe!”_

_“Hermione is Harry’s friend, too!” Ron wailed, flailing his own arm, the fingers of his free hand prying at Dobby’s on his wrist._

_“Dobby will return for Hermione Granger, sir. Dobby must get Harry Potter to safety first!”_

_Hermione watched tiredly out of half-lidded eyes, clouded with tears and blood, as Harry frantically tried to reach for her._

_“Greyback,” Bellatrix hissed at her ear, “You will take the Mudblood and do with her what you will.”_

_“No!” Hermione heard Harry scream. “Dobby, you have to get Hermione, too!”_

_A sob ripped through her chest as clawed fingers grasped her upper arm and tore her from Bellatrix’s hold. She tumbled into Greyback’s bare chest and his arm wrapped around her shoulders, his nose breathing in her hair, his rank breath wafting over her face._

_“You and me, girly,” he growled hungrily in her ear, “We’re going to have some fun.”_

_Suddenly, all talking ceased when, from overhead, a loud grinding sound filled the room. All eyes looked upwards as the spectacular chandelier swayed and creaked, then snapped, crashing to the ballroom floor, shattering into millions of tiny pieces, shards of glass and links of chain exploding in all directions. Hermione felt Greyback wrap her in his arms, holding her close to his foul body as they were showered in fragments of the chandelier._

_It was utter chaos._

_“Dobby!” Narcissa Malfoy screamed, “You! You dropped the chandelier?”_

_Hermione turned her head toward the shrieking woman. Narcissa was disheveled, her usually elegant coif coming undone around her shoulders, tiny pieces of glass adorning her hair. She stood in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief._

_Dobby shook his head at her, yanking a still-flailing Ron to his side._

_“You must not hurt Harry Potter,” he squeaked._

_“Kill him, Cissy!” shrieked Bellatrix, but before Narcissa could even raise her wand, a loud crack echoed in the room and her wand flew across the vast space, landing at Dobby’s feet. “You dirty little monkey! How dare you take a witch’s wand, how dare you defy your masters?”_

_“Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!”_

_“Hermione! You have to grab Hermione!” Harry screamed at Dobby._

_Dobby looked up mournfully at Harry and slowly shook his head, tightening his grip on Harry’s wrist._

_“Dobby will come back for Hermione Granger,” he told Harry again as Griphook grabbed the elf’s leg. “Dobby must get Harry Potter to safety.”_

_“WAIT! NO!” Ron bellowed as Dobby turned on the spot._

_Hermione watched, almost as if in slow motion, as Dobby Apparated with her friends. Her heart dropped into her stomach, though not because she was being left behind - a whisper of relief that at least_ they _would be okay - but because at the same time they popped out of existence, the cursed blade Bellatrix had been digging into Hermione’s arm flew through the air and disappeared with her friends. There was a sinking feeling the blade hit its mark._

_Bellatrix screamed in frustration. “FUCK!”_

_Spinning, her wild black locks flinging around her face with the motion, she faced Hermione and sneered. She looked behind her where Narcissa stood, her hands squeezing Draco’s shoulders firmly, then over to Lucius, who was still lying unconscious on the floor._

_“The Dark Lord will not be pleased,” Bellatrix stated. Her voice echoed in the room, amplified by the vast emptiness of the space, which suddenly seemed a thousand times louder than it had just moments before; the shrill of her voice echoed in Hermione’s ears, making her wince._

_“Cissy, Draco, come. We must prepare for the Dark Lord’s arrival. Greyback… get rid of the filth.”_

_Draco’s stance shifted, almost as if he were going to take a step towards her. Hermione’s eyes flicked up to him, her heart pounding in her chest, but then squeezed them shut again and cringed when Greyback cackled in her ear, the sounds of him licking his lips making bile rise in her throat._

_With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and watched as Bellatrix spun on her heel, stalking toward the double doors on the far side of the drawing room, the click-clacking sounds of her chunky boots reverberating off the empty walls. Narcissa pulled on Draco’s shoulders, but he didn’t move. He stared at Hermione, reluctance, fear, and regret washing over his features._

_A small, foolish sprig of hope flared in her chest. Was he going to refuse?_

_He… couldn’t._

_No, he couldn’t refuse._

_She knew that._

_But… but… just maybe…_

_Their eyes met._

_“Please,” she mouthed to him. “Please.”_

_Please what, though, she didn’t know. Please help her? Please just go?_

_His breath stuttered on the exhale._

_“Draco? Come along, darling,” Narcissa murmured, her voice strained, pulling harder on his shoulders._

_He wouldn’t move._

_“Cissy? What’s going on?” Bellatrix asked, suddenly halting in her exit, and twisting around._

_“Draco, please, darling,” Narcissa begged, “You know we have to-“_

_“Mother! Stop!”_

_The room went quiet._

_Tears fell from the corners of Hermione’s eyes, and she began to struggle in Greyback’s hold. Dropping her weight, she hoped to catch him off guard long enough to escape his grasp, but as if he were anticipating the move, his arms tightened around her, gathering her into his chest so closely, she couldn’t turn her head._

_“What’s this?” Bellatrix screeched. The frantic sounds of her boots bounced off Hermione’s eardrums as she stalked back across the ballroom floor to them._

_“It’s nothing, Bella. Draco’s just-“_

_“Draco’s what? Cissy…” Bellatrix paused, then inhaled sharply. “I will not have a blood-traitor, Mudblood-lover as a nephew. I won’t stand for it! I’ll kill him myself before I let him ruin this family any further. It’s bad enough your poor excuse for a husband can’t keep the Dark Lord’s favor. It’d be much worse if He finds out_ my _nephew-”_

_“No! I swear, Bella. Draco’s just a boy, you know. It’s hard for him-“_

_“_ Hard _? I was his age when I started following Him, Cissy. It’s not_ hard _,” Bellatrix cooed. Then silence. “You! Werewolf! What are you still doing here? Are you going to eat the little bitch, or will I have to dispose of her myself?”_

-

January 5, 1999

“Hermione? Merlin, Hermione! We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Blimey, you look different.”

-

_She tucked her silky mane of honey-brown curls under the hood of her cloak and gripped her beaded bag close to her body as she stole her way into Dogweed & Deathcap._

_“Miss Granger,” the shopkeep, Aster, greeted in his crackled, wizened voice, “Two grams of Aconite?”_

_She didn’t say anything as she approached the counter and sat a bag of Galleons on top of a thick book. The elderly man nodded, turning around to face the wall that was littered with glass jars full of a wild array of flora. Using a metal scoop, he weighed out the Aconite into a tiny canvas pouch and handed it to Hermione. With a nod, and without a word, she swept out of the tiny apothecary, stuffing the pouch into her beaded bag, then gripped her cloak around her body as if fighting off a nonexistent chill in the air._

_Aberforth ignored her as she hurried in through the front door of The Hog’s Head, taking the steps up to the let rooms two at a time. She didn’t knock before she threw herself into the tiny, rented room, then locked and warded the door._

_“Draco? Are you awake?” She asked, unbuttoning her cloak, and throwing it across the foot of the bed. She walked to the crickedy desk in the corner of the room that served as their brewing table, and set her beaded bad on the tabletop, reaching in it up to her shoulder, searching for the little pouch. Finding it, she dropped the pouch next to their small, pewter cauldron, and placed her bag on the floor._

_Turning to Draco, she watched the unmoving form of her mate as he laid prone on the bed, the blanket tucked around his hips, his lips parted slightly, his features serene. She smiled wistfully and wished, not for the first time, that he could be this blissful all the time, that their lives hadn’t taken the turn they did._

_Kicking off her trainers, she then stripped off her shirt and jeans, tucking herself in next to Draco wearing nothing but her bra and knickers. She studied him as he slept, the way his white-blond hair fell in his face, how the darker stubble shadowed his striking jawline. She traced a finger down the bridge of his aristocratic nose, bent slightly from where she broke it in third year. His lips, fully kissable, were a deep pink that stood out against his pale skin._

_She leaned forward, pressing her lips to his, then felt them curl into a smile against hers._

_“Ah, so you are awake,” Hermione chuckled, pressing in closer to him and wrapped her arm around his neck._

_He shifted onto his side, wrapping his own arm around her middle, and dragged her as close to him as he could, planting another kiss on her lips._

_“Of course, I am. I just wanted you lying next to me, in this bed, naked,” he mumbled, trailing kisses along her jaw._

_“But I’m not naked,” Hermione teased, allowing her head to fall back on the nape of her neck, giving him space to plant butterfly kisses down the column of her throat. He hovered over her scent gland, his breath blowing over the tender skin, then licked it._

_She gasped._

_“You should be,” he growled, lifting his head, and meeting her eyes. His grey flashed gold, and he ground his hips into her, his hardened cock sliding up her thigh._

_She moaned and hooked her ankle over his bare arse, his free hand ghosting down her sides – resting briefly on her womb – then drifted to her clothed core, hooking a finger in the gusset of her kickers and rubbed a knuckle through her folds._

_“Mmm… you’re always so ready for me, Hermione. So wet…” he murmured, his lips latching onto her scent gland and sucking, dipping a finger into her drenched core._

_She cried out and her hips bucked forward. “Gods, please, Draco. No teasing. I need you.”_

_He growled against her neck, tucked her knickers to the side, and quickly lined the tip of his cock up with her entrance, plunging into her cunt with a swift thrust._

-

January 5, 1999

“Hermione, can you hear me?”

Tears pooled in Hermione’s eyes, her trembling hands curling in fists, and she gasped, choking on her ragged sobs.

 _Fuck_ , it hurt so much.

-

 _“You smell so good. I can’t wait to bite you, fuck you, mate you, get you with pup. You’re going to be my bitch,_ Hermione _. My little Omega bitch. You’re going to_ beg _me to fuck you when you’re in heat. Beg me to knot you, claim you. You, me, our pups… We’re going to be one big,_ happy _family. Doesn’t that sound nice?” Greyback mumbled gruffly in her ear as he rutted against her thigh._

_Hermione sobbed around the filthy rag gagging her. She shook her head, but it just made him release a breathy laugh as his rutting sped up and he began to pant. His face buried into her hair, breathing in the scent of her as his hips moved wildly against her._

_“I cannot wait to do this inside of you, girly. I bet you’re tight. Are you a virgin? Oh, fuck, I bet you’re a virgin,” he gasped, drool dripping onto her cheek as he planted an open-mouthed kiss on her jaw._

_His hips stuttered then, and he grunted, streams of hot wetness seeping through her jeans and onto her leg. She jerked and cried out against her gag, tears flowing down her cheeks, mixing with the layers of muck, grime, and snot. A gnarled hand cupped her jaw and he breathlessly kissed the corner of her mouth, then lifted his head, trying to meet her eyes._

_She squeezed her eyes shut and twisted her head away, but his grip on her jaw tightened as he forced her to look at him._

_“You will open your eyes, or I won’t wait until the full moon to break you in,” Greyback hissed, his feculent breath hot on her skin._

_Trembling, she opened her eyes and met his golden stare. His crusty lips twisted up and his sharp, yellowing teeth barred in a gruesome smile._

_“That’s my good girl,” he said, leaning down, kissing her lips, his tongue swiping at the fabric in her mouth. “Mmm… you taste good, too. I wonder what your cunt tastes like.”_

_Hermione screamed when Greyback suddenly reared back and pulled her to her feet, tearing the binding from her ankles and threw her onto a ratty mattress in the corner of the small cave._

_He dipped his chin and snarled through a wicked smile, the pupils of his eyes blooming, and stalked towards her. Hermione scrambled to her knees and crawled as best she could with bound wrists to a little alcove, tucking her body into the wall as close as she could._

_“I can’t put my cock in you until I bite you, but I think I can still taste you. You’d like that, too, wouldn’t you? My tongue in your cunt?” Greyback said, lewdly flicking his tongue at her._

_“No, no, please!” Hermione screeched around her gag, curling into her body. “Please don’t!”_

_Greyback crouched to his knees, his grin widening and reached for her. Hermione began to scream, but he halted suddenly, his head perking up and twisted around._

_“Fuck!” He grunted and stood, taking a step towards the cave entrance, stopping briefly to turn and look at her. “If you move, I_ will _kill you. I can promise it will be slow and extremely painful.”_

_Then he was gone._

_Hermione’s sob stuttered out of her mouth, muffled slightly by the gag, and for the first time since they left the Manor, she had the opportunity to assess her surroundings. She was in a small cave - a den, really - that clearly looked like it served as his home. Aside from the queen-sized mattress that was smeared with stains of origins she didn’t want to ponder, there was a small wooden dining set on the far side of the cave – and that was it._

_The cave floor was littered with leaves, dirt, and mosses, but next to the mattress was a pile of what looked like shredded pieces of fabric. A sob tore from her throat; she really didn’t want to know whose clothing it used to be. She swallowed, and averted her eyes away from the pile of scraps, focusing on the only entrance to the cave – that also served as the exit – and she realized that without her wand, there was no way to escape._

_She was trapped._

_And there was nothing she could do about it._

_Her breathing sped up, her heart began to pound in her chest, and tears poured down her cheeks. Panic flooded her gut, and she felt her blood run cold._

_She was never going to see Harry again, or Ron, or…_

_No, she wouldn’t think about him._

_She wouldn’t see her parents again. They would never get their memories back._

_She was never going to make love again or get married or-_

_“I can’t believe Malfoy would just give his whelp away,” Greyback’s voice echoed in the cave, breaking Hermione out of the unrelenting pain of her regrets._

_Struggling, shuffling noises – coupled with Malfoy’s name – made her whip her head around and her eyes widened when Draco Malfoy was brutally pushed to the floor of the cave, bound and gagged much in the same way she was._

_He was thinner than when she last saw him just days ago. His blonde hair was filthy and matted. He was wearing the same black suit he had donned at the Manor, but it was far from impeccable with valleys of rips and tears, so torn, it couldn’t even really be counted as clothing._

_“I don’t think ‘e ‘ad much of a choice,” another voice – Scabior, she realized – laughed as he walked into the den, Greyback at his heels._

_“What am I supposed to do with him?” Greyback asked, ignoring the quip._

_“I was told ‘E-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is in need of more werewolf allies,” he replied, jovially._

_Hermione squeaked and all three heads turned to stare at her, though she only met Malfoy’s eye._

_His gaze was blank._

_-_

January 5, 1999

“Here, Hermione. You need to drink something.”

“I don’t think she needs _Firewhiskey_ , Ron.”

“What are you on about? Everyone needs Firewhiskey after the year we’ve had.”

“I swear to Merlin you’re the most unobservant bloke in the world.”

“What the hell, Bill?”

“She’s _pregnant_ , you git.”

-

 _Hot. She felt hot. So hot. And the_ pain _. In her bones, in her muscles, her skin hurt, her uterus felt like it was being gnawed on._

_“What’s wrong with her?”_

_Ouch! Too loud. Why was everyone shouting?_

_“I… I think she’s about to go into heat.”_

_“_ Heat _?”_

_“She was bitten. Oh, Minerva, I-“_

_“Bitten? By what? … Who? Greyback? How did I not know about this?”_

_“I don’t think anyone knows. If they did… Should we ask Mr. Potter?”_

_“I’m…” McGonagall sighed. “It’s only been two days, Poppy. Two days since we’ve lost so many. I don’t know if now is the right time.”_

_Hermione groaned, “It hurts.”_

_“Oh, Miss Granger, Hermione… Did Greyback bite you?” Someone grabbed her hand. Pain rippled under her skin. She whimpered, and yanked her hand away._

_“What are we going to do? I don’t know a lot about werewolf heats.”_

_“I… What about the Room of Requirement? It should supply everything she’ll need for her heat.”_

_“I don’t know if it’s in any condition to be used-“_

_“Draco…” Hermione moaned as another wave of pain radiated through her, making her curl further into herself. She gritted her teeth as the sheets rubbed against her raw skin. Oh, god…_

_“Draco? Draco Malfoy? Poppy-“_

_“He was bitten, too. I saw the bite when I was taking care of his battle wounds.”_

_“They were bitten… Was it at the same time?”_

_Silence._

_-_

January 5, 1999

“ _Pregnant?_ What do you mean ‘pregnant’?” Ron’s incredulous voice snapped Hermione out of her reverie, and her head whipped up, her eyes narrowing, her lip curling. Her fists unballed and flew to her stomach, her hands splayed protectively across her growing abdomen.

_Pup!_

“Hermione…” came Bill’s voice, calm and reassuring, but he was not _her_ Alpha, not _her_ mate; his demeanor did little to snuff the rage she felt building. She _couldn’t_ tear her eyes away from Ron’s face, his features shifting from confusion to realization as his gaze landed on her stomach.

 _He’s a threat to pup!_

“Wait, Hermione… How-“

“Ron, I don’t think now’s the time,” Bill placated, twisting in his seat, looking around for meddlesome eavesdroppers. The thing about meeting at The Leaky Cauldron, though, was the fact that people respected privacy – and that was something they desperately needed. Especially for this conversation.

“No, Bill. This is perfect time,” Ron snapped, meeting Bill’s glare with his own, “I haven’t seen Hermione in _months_ , and all this time she’s been fucking some bloke and got up the duff with his bas-“

_He’s insulting Alpha, insulting pup!_

On instinct, Hermione growled deep in her throat, and leapt to her feet. Bill placed a hand on her shoulder and his lips thinned into a line, his eyes flashing gold, then stood up, staring down at Ron.

“I think you need to leave.”

“The fuck I do!” Ron retorted, pointing a finger at Hermione, “ _I_ have a right to be here. I’m her boyfriend!”

“You are _nothing_ ,” Hermione spat.

-

_“Full moon’s tonight, girly. Are you excited? Oh, I’m excited. I can’t wait to bite you, and tomorrow I get to mate you,” Greyback exclaimed gleefully, plating a piece of raw deer and shoving it into her hands, “And when you go into heat, I’m going get you with pup. You’re going to grow so big and round, I can’t wait!”_

_Hermione shuddered, staring down at the bloody piece of meat and nearly gagged._

_“And you, whelp,” he said, throwing scraps of deer meat at Draco, and barked out a laugh, “You-Know-Who doesn’t want a blood-traitor in his ranks, werewolf or not. I think I’ll just bite you and leave you to die. You really are lucky I’ve had enough Wolfsbane to temper this months’ change otherwise I’d just tear you apart limb by limb while you were still alive and enjoy every second of it. My Wolf_ loves _to hear the screams.”_

_Hermione’s stomach roiled, but she didn’t say anything as she watched Draco beneath her eyelashes. He scowled at the inedible pieces of flesh that littered the cave floor, caked in dirt and grime, and turned his head away, shifting slightly in his uncomfortable spot on the hard ground._

_Greyback cackled and smacked his lips as he bent down over the animal’s carcass, biting into its liver. He moaned in pleasure, slurping at the deer’s raw juices, the repugnant sounds of him feasting filling the small space. Vomit rose in her throat and she closed her eyes, setting the plate next to her on the mattress. She breathed in deeply through her mouth, then out again, begging her meager breakfast of berries and raw fish to stay in its proper place._

_“Greyback! You in there?” A now familiar voice called._

_Greyback’s head popped up, his mouth dripping blood, and he stood. Scabior sauntered into the cave, barely flinching at the gruesome scene, his hands shoved in his pockets, his greasy, shoulder-length black hair falling around his face._

_“Renks says he saw Potter and his ginger friend poking about near Wistman’s Wood this morning.”_

_“Really?” Greyback questioned, wiping a hand down his face, which did little in the way of cleaning the blood off his muzzle. He looked at Hermione, then took a step towards the man. “If they’re this close, they must be looking for the girl.”_

_Scabior just shrugged._

_“Well, shall we sniff them out then? Can’t be too long, though. I have plans tonight,” Greyback howled in laughter, and followed the other man out of the cave, warding the entrance._

_As soon as she heard their footsteps fade, Hermione scrambled off the mattress and crouched next to Draco, holding out her still-bound hands to caress his cheek._

_“Draco, please… talk to me,” Hermione begged, grasping his jaw, and tried to force his face towards her. “Please, love.”_

_He relented, turning to look at her, his eyes blank, but his voice trembled when he spoke. “Hermione, I need you to listen to me. When the full moon rises, I need you to run. I’ll distract him, but you need to run. Do you hear me? I can’t let him turn you, I can’t. I_ won’t _.”_

_“Draco,” Hermione sobbed, raising her hands over Draco’s head, resting her forearms on his shoulders, pulling him into her, “He’ll just catch me. Without my wand, I can’t Apparate. I don’t know where we are… I…”_

_Draco leaned down, his forehead resting against hers, and sucked in a shaky breath. When he pulled back, he met her eyes and she gasped. She knew he was learning Occulmency with Professor Snape at school. She realized when he was brought here that he must have been using it. His gaze was always blank, his voice nearly emotionless. But now… His eyes were so full of anguish, so full of fear, with another – more familiar - emotion flickering just under the surface, that her heart swelled, and she pulled him to her again, their lips touching, not for the first time, but quite possibly the last._

_“I love you,” he murmured, tears streaking down his cheeks._

_The sudden sound of dried leaves crunching and twigs snapping under heavy boots filled the cave. Hermione whimpered, pulling herself closer to Draco as Scabior appeared._

_“Oh, ain’t this sweet? I can’t wait to tell Greyback ‘is future mate and the Malfoy whelp are in_ love _. ‘E’s going to ‘ave a lot of fun killing you, boy.”_

_-_

January 5, 1999

Ron stared at Hermione and his eyes narrowed. “What-“

“Ron, _leave_ ,” Bill demanded.

Ron stood, his chair scooting loudly against the wooden floor, and he huffed out a frustrated breath.

“Fine.” The single word was uttered with so much venom that the part of Hermione that was buried underneath her Omega cried for her friend. But even if she weren’t a mated Omega that was with pup, she would have hated Ron just a little bit in that moment. He was talking about _Draco_ , the man she began to fall in love with in sixth year; speaking ill of him was not allowed.

 _Ever_.

Ron stalked away from their table, flinging the door open to the Muggle side of London with so much force, it bounced off the side of the building then slammed shut, drawing the attention they were trying to avoid.

The pub fell into an eerie silence as heads turned to stare. Bill sat back down in his chair, shifting his back to the other patrons, and urged Hermione to sit. He watched as she did, surprised by how large her stomach appeared to be. She had to have been further along than anyone realized, six or seven months _at least_. Which would mean…

“Hermione,” Bill asked after a moment, his voice calm, “Is this Greyback’s pup?”

Her head snapped around to him. Her eyes narrowed and she instinctively turned her belly away from Bill; she couldn’t help the sinking feeling of betrayal from settling in her gut. “What a horrible thing to ask. I thought _you_ of all people would understand.” 

-

_Too large. This room was too large. Too open. It wasn’t safe for Alpha or their future pups._

_“I asked Bill Weasley to check on the Room of Requirement. If there are any residual curses, he’ll be able to take care of them.”_

_“Did you tell him?”_

_“No, of course not. It’s not my place to say anything.”_

_“But he may be able to help.”_

_“With her_ heat _? I would never ask him to do that. He’s married. Plus, he’s only part-wolf. I don’t know if he is capable of helping with that.”_

_“Of course not with her heat, Minerva. I’m not daft, I know the boy’s married. I mean… Maybe he can help her navigate her lycanthropy.”_

_“Draco…” Hermione moaned, shuddering as another painful cramp radiated through her body. “I need Draco.”_

_“Maybe we should just ask for the Malfoy boy.”_

_“He’s being held at the Ministry. I don’t know that they’ll release him to help her.”_

_“She’s Hermione Granger. They’ll allow it.”_

_A woman sighed. Hermione cringed. Too loud. The room, too open. She needed… she needed to get somewhere safe. She needed Draco. She needed her Alpha._

_“I’ll send an owl.”_

_“Be fast. I don’t know how much time she has left.”_

_“Should we give her a contraceptive potion?”_

_“… I don’t know.”_

_Hermione fell into a fitful sleep. She couldn’t move because the sheets hurt against her skin. If she uncurled out of her ball, her insides would tear apart. She was so hot. Too hot._

_She didn’t know how much time had passed – minutes, hours, days, even - before she felt the first wave of pulsating pain in her cunt. Slick gushed from her, soaking her knickers and the mattress beneath her, waking her. She cried out._

_“Sshh, Hermione. Mr. Malfoy is on his way. He should be here soon.”_

_As soon as she heard the words, she smelled him, the distinct mix of freshly mown grass, fertile earth, and crisp green apples. Her eyes popped open and she whimpered._

_“Alpha…”_

_The door to the Hospital Wing flung open and he looked wildly around, his nostrils flaring, then his golden eyes landed on her. He took three large strides across the room and scooped her into his arms. Instantly, the pain eased, and she wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck, her nose rubbing the scent gland at his throat._

_“Where can I take her?” He asked silkily, and she moaned as she kissed his swollen gland._

_He grunted._

_“We had the Room of Requirement-“_

_He didn’t wait for McGonagall to finish her sentence before he took off. Hermione bounced in his arms as he ran through the halls, up staircases, ignoring the bewildered looks of resident ghosts as Draco rushed them to the seventh floor._

_“Alpha, please…” Hermione whimpered as she licked his scent gland and trailed kisses to his ear, nipping the lobe between her teeth._

_Draco groaned. “Just need another minute.”_

_He paced them in front of the blank wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and his dancing trolls. Then again. And a third time._

_A door appeared._

_He opened it with a flick of his wrist, and when they entered the room, Hermione lifted her head._

_Immediately, her inner Omega crooned at the tiny space. The room shrunk to accommodate a queen-size four-poster, a bedside table, and a fireplace that housed a merry, crackling fire. Another door adorned the opposite wall that, in her haze, she identified as probably leading to a loo. That was it._

_It was perfect._

_Draco laid her on the bed, but the moment his hands left her, a fresh wave of white-hot pain shot to her core and she groaned, curling into a ball._

_“Alpha, please…”_

_She vaguely heard the soft sounds of clothing hitting the floor, then felt hands on her feet, pulling off her socks. He reached up, pressing his thumb into the scent gland at her throat._

_Pain turned into pleasure and she leaned into his touch._

_“Hermione, we need to get you out of these clothes,” he whispered at her ear, and she shuddered, a gush of arousal ruining her knickers, the excess sliding down her thighs._

_She couldn’t think as he stripped her, and she licked at his ear. She couldn’t think as he pulled off her jeans, and she sucked at his scent gland. She couldn’t think as her knickers went next, and she trailed kisses along his jaw. She couldn’t think as he pulled away, quickly disposing her of her shirt and bra, then he was pushing her down on the bed, his hands on her knees._

_She looked at him and bit her lip, letting her knees fall open, and Draco inhaled deeply, his golden eyes narrowing into slits._

_“Omega…” His voice was a deep, commanding baritone, one that compelled her to stop writhing on the bed to just stare at him._

_His eyes were on her cunt, his lips parted, and the tip of his tongue swiped his lower lip. She moaned, her hips arching off the bed, her clit eager for attention._

_“You’re dripping,” he grunted, one of his hands sliding down her inner thigh, resting on her mound._

_“Please,_ please _…” Hermione begged, bucking her hips to meet his hand, her fingers curling into the bedsheets._

 _Growling, he dipped forward and attached his lips to her clit. Gasping, her hands swung up and gripped his head, grasping his hair as she lifted her hips, needing more of him on her…_ in _her. Her eyes fluttered closed as his tongue flicked her swollen bud, swiping through her folds as he plunged into her core and slurped at her slick._

_Her orgasm was sudden, disappointingly so. It ripped through her body, tearing a cry from her throat, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough. As Draco pulled back, she sobbed, arching her hips up to him again, her head rolling on the bed._

_“I- I need…”_

_“I know what you need.” Draco pulled her legs wide and settled between her thighs, the tip of his cock sinking slightly into her heat. He rested on his forearms and held her head still in his hands. “Look at me,” he ordered._

_Instantaneously, her eyes popped open. His gaze was so intense, his pupils blooming so wide that nearly all his lupine gold had disappeared. She whimpered._

_“I will always take care of you. Of you and our pups,” he stated with such fierce conviction, tears gathered in the corner of her eyes._

_He swooped down, locking his lips against hers in a searing kiss, plunging in with a swift thrust and sheathing himself in her at the hilt._

_Oh, yes. This is what she needed. She needed her Alpha’s cock, the length of him filling her, the width of him stretching her. She needed him hard, she needed him rough. Then she needed to feel the swell of his knot as he released inside her._

_She wrapped her legs around his waist, her heels digging into his arse, encouraging him to move,_ needing _him to move._

_He shuddered, releasing her lips and buried his head in the crook of her neck to suck on her scent gland. Pleasure rippled through her body and she mewled, rocking her hips up to meet his, drawing him even deeper into her._

_His hips retracted and he thrust forward. She gasped. He dragged out inch by agonizing inch, then thrust in again._

_“Oh…” Hermione bit into her lip. A distinct metallic taste fell onto her tongue, and she groaned when Draco’s lips found the wound on her lip, lapping at the blood._

_Something primal flared in her gut and she growled, taking over by sucking in his lip between her teeth and biting down hard enough to draw_ his _blood. She kissed him, tasting the mixture of their blood on her tongue, moaning as slick poured out of her. Her nails dug into his back, scratching up the taut muscles until they found his hair, and she curled her fingers into his scalp._

 _“Alpha, please. Fuck me._ Please _. I need-“_

_A deep, reverberating snarl sounded in his chest, cutting her off, and he tore his head away from her, his lips curling, his tongue running over his bloody teeth. “I told you. I know what you need. I will take care you, my Omega. I will always take care of you.”_

_Settling on his haunches, he wrapped his arms around her hips, lifting them to a new angle, and he thrusted in hard and deep._

_Hermione gasped._

_“You need me to go hard.”_

_His hips snapped forward, then again._

_The friction… Oh, gods, the feel of him sliding in and out of her hot cunt, the lewd sounds of skin-on-skin, her juices sticking to her thighs as she gushed around him…_

_She panted._

_“You need my knot. You need my cock to swell inside you. You need me to paint your insides with my come.”_

_She mumbled incoherently as his hips sped up, taking her hard and rough, his fingers digging into her hips. She knew he’d leave bruises, and her Omega squealed at the thought._

Maybe he’ll mark us. Claim us. Mate us.

_Her eyes popped open and she watched Alpha’s face as he pumped wildly into her. His eyes were squeezed shut, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his beautiful lips parted in pleasure. Her gaze drifted downwards over the corded muscles in his arms, to his abs that contracted with every pull._

_As if he felt her eyes on him, he opened his own and barred his teeth._

_“I can feel your cunt fluttering, Omega. You’re so close aren’t you?”_

_His thumb found her clit, flicking across the bud, and she groaned, her eyes falling closed again, her head digging into the mattress._

_“Come for me, Omega. Be my good girl and come for me,” Alpha crooned, huskily._

_Her jaw dropped open in a silent scream as pulsating waves of euphoria shot through her. Her blood rushed, her heart sped up, her body became hot, her fingers and toes curled into the mattress, gripping the sheet for purchase as her clit twitched and thighs trembled._

_With a final thrust and a roar, Alpha’s hips stuttered to a halt and she felt his knot swell inside her, latching into place as the walls of her cunt milked him, endless streams of come surging out of him, filling her up. He lowered her hips and lunged forward, plunging his teeth into her scent gland, breaking her skin._

_She screamed in ecstasy as their magic exploded, crackling around them, twisting, mixing and melding together until it became one. Hermione opened her eyes, watching in hazy astonishment as snowflakes of silver and gold flooded her vision, then settled onto them like a warm blanket, sinking into their skin, flooding her body with an overwhelming sense of peace and love._

_-_

January 5, 1999

“Whose pup is it?” Bill asked, his voice maintaining its calm tone. But it did nothing to quell the insurmountable rage that began to course through her veins.

“I came to you because you should understand,” was Hermione’s snipped repeated response.

Bill’s features suddenly twisted into sorrowed realization, and it made her want to cry as much as claw the look off his face.

His eyes flashed gold, then faded quickly back to his normal blue, and his hand reached out to take hers, holding it tightly. She didn’t resist; the touch crumbled her resolve and she burst into sobs, her rage dying to smoking embers.

“If it’s not Greyback’s, then… Draco’s?”

_-_

_“You have minutes, boy. Minutes until I make you watch as I bite your whore and make her mine. Minutes until I make you_ both _watch as I disembowel you and eat your liver. That’s the best part, you know. The liver. Iron’s good for the body.” Greyback’s cackle made Hermione’s skin crawl, his threat making bile rise in her throat. She sobbed around the gag, struggling against the cords that held her to the chair, but her eyes never left Draco._

 _In the dim light of the_ lumos, _she could see his body splayed on the mattress, each of his four limbs magically restrained to the corners. The gag in his mouth did little to hold back his fury as he cursed and flung threats, all of which made Greyback howl in laughter._

_“Or should I just wait until I fuck her? Oh, yeah, whelp. I think I’ll do that. I’ll bite the bitch, claim her, then fuck her right in front of you. I bet you’re one of those little pervs who love to watch, aren’t you? You’d love to watch a werewolf fuck a witch, wouldn’t you?”_

_Greyback’s smile widened, his lengthening canines protruding from his mouth as he grasped her chin and tilted her head backwards onto the nape of her neck, running a canine against her carotid, the tip of his fang piercing her skin._

_“Oops,” he chuckled, then licked up the trail of blood, sucking at the small puncture wound._

_Hermione cried out._

_Draco thrashed harder._

_“Mmm… You taste so good,” Greyback mumbled in her ear, nicking the shell before breathing in the smell of her hair._

_Suddenly Greyback reared back and his smile grew grotesque, his eyes fluttered close, and his fingers clawed at his already minuscule amount clothing until he stumbled away, completely nude before them._

_“I can feel it. The moon is calling. My wolf is calling,” he groaned in pleasure, his features twisting, his hair growing longer. He grasped his erect length and stroked it, his gaze settling on Hermione._

_“Look at me, bitch,” he bit out._

_She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away._

_“Watch me or I’ll kill the whelp now and shove his spleen down your throat.”_

_Hermione gasped out a sob but opened her eyes and turned her head, watching as he fisted himself._

_He nodded dazedly, the corners of his lips lifting upward, his tongue lazily lolling out of his mouth as he gripped his cock harder, pumping it in his fist until he came with a pant, shooting ribbons of come over her legs._

_“You motherfucker!” Draco screamed around his gag._

_Greyback huffed out a breathy laugh, then grimaced. “This is it.”_

_The loud crunching of breaking bones echoed in the hollowed space. He howled, falling to his hands and knees as his spine contorted in impossible angles. His hair grew longer and greyed out. His golden eyes flashed red as his nose and mouth elongated into a furry muzzle. It didn’t take much time at all before he pushed himself up off the cave floor, completely transformed, and snarled, his wolfy lips lifting up in what could only be described as a grin._

_His eyes locked onto Hermione._

_Her heart pounded in her chest, sweat beaded down her brow. Her eyes met his, and while every fiber of her being urged her to struggle, to fight to get loose, she couldn’t move._

_Faintly she heard Draco struggling behind her on the mattress, screaming at her to try, just_ try _, but she…_ couldn’t _. The beast stalked forward, tilting its head side to side as it eyed her, its grin growing wider._

‘See,’ _a wicked voice seemed to say in her head_ , ‘You’re meant to be mine. You’re meant to be my Omega bitch.’

_“You bastard! You cocksucking motherfucker!” Hermione faintly heard Draco yell, drawing Greyback’s attention._

_The werewolf shook its head and then lowered to all fours, pacing slowly towards Draco, staring at him through its beady red eyes as drool began to trickle down its jowls._

_“NO!” Hermione pulled herself out of the haze of Greyback’s hypnosis, struggling in the chair, her eyes widening in horror as the werewolf bent down over Draco, opened its mouth, then sunk its teeth into the crook of his neck._

_Draco’s bloodcurdling scream rang in Hermione’s ears._

_“NO! NO!” She wailed, her heart dropping into her gut. She wriggled against her bindings, and began to rock her chair back and forth, trying to gain momentum to topple over, to break the furniture, to free her hands. It wasn’t working. “NO! PLEASE!”_

_As quickly as it began, Draco fell quiet. Greyback ripped away from Draco’s neck, his ears perking up, and in the momentary silence, Hermione heard it._

_The sound of a wolf’s howl._

_And it was close._

_Very close._

_Greyback growled deeply in his throat, bounded across the tiny cave, and stood on his hindlegs, bringing his claws to Hermione’s matted hair, yanking her head to the side to expose her neck._

_Another howl._

_“HEL-“_

_He snapped, tearing into the column of her neck, cutting off her plea. Hermione’s eyes widened in shock, another scream lodging in her throat. She knew being bitten would hurt. She’d been preparing herself for the pain, knowing it would probably rival that of the Cruciatus. But what she didn’t expect was to feel the drip drop of Greyback’s venom as it poisoned her blood, as it flowed like peanut butter through her veins. She also didn’t expect the rush of endorphins, which caused her to fall limp and dazed, almost as if she were drunk. That’s what it was. She felt drunk._

_And in her haze, she felt him pull away from her when yet another wolfy yip sounded right outside of the cave. He dropped to all fours again and howled. Hermione winced at the sound as it reverberated off the stone walls, and he bolted out of the cave entrance, leaving dust trails in his wake._

_Hermione gasped, her vision tunneling, and somewhere in the recesses of her mind, her subconscious was screaming at her to move, break the chair, get Draco, and flee. But as her blood ran down her neck, soaking through her jumper, and streamed down her arm, she knew that was impossible._

Drip, drip, drip _went the blood onto the mossy floor._

 _Her head lolled onto her shoulder as she became lightheaded and looked towards Draco through hooded lids. He was facing her, and their eyes met. His complexion began to ashen as a growing crimson pool gathered beneath his head, seeping into the mattress, adding to the collection of_ _tales that mattress could tell._

_“I love you,” Draco grunted._

_A sob escaped her chest. “Draco… I wish…”_

_An infinitesimal shake of his head quieted her. “I…”_

_“HERMIONE!” A voice roared, interrupting him._

_“HERMIONE! WHERE ARE YOU?” Another voice._

_“I smell blood,” a third._

_The voices were all familiar, and even in her delirium, joy surged. She knew those voices. They were found. They were going to make it._

_Her head rolled lazily toward the cave entrance and watched as multi-colored sparks bounced off the wards._

_“Wait… I can break them. Hold on.”_

_“Hurry, Bill!”_

_It didn’t take long before the wards fell and four people rushed into the cave, four wands raised high in the air, illuminating their small space._

_A gasp._

_“What the_ fuck _did he do to her?” Someone cried by her ear. She felt her restraints loosening, slipping from around her chest, wrists, and ankles, and she slumped in her chair._

_“Wait, Remus…” A pause, “He gave this to me, just in case.”_

_“What is it?”_

_“Dittany paste… for her bite.”_

_“_ BITE?” _someone screeched._

_“Ron, we don’t have time for this. Remus can only hold Greyback off for so long.” A small hand slapped a layer of thick, cold paste to her neck. She felt her blood instantly stop flowing._

_“Grab her, Harry. We’ll Apparate from here.”_

_Someone – Harry, maybe? – grabbed her hands and pulled her out of her chair, wrapping her arms around his neck._

_“’Mione… I’m so sorry. So… sorry,” Harry – yes, definitely Harry - croaked in her ear, his voice thick with despair, and tucked his face into the crook of her neck, taking a deep, shaky breath._

_“Wait…” Panic flared in her chest as she looked over Harry’s shoulder at Draco, whom no one seemed to notice. Their eyes met again, and the corner of his lip curled up._

_“Go,” he mouthed to her._

_Tears cascaded down her face and sobs ripped from her chest. “NO!” An intense flood of adrenaline pulled her out of Harry’s arms, and she stumbled across the forest-littered ground, ignoring the incredulous looks from her rescuers._

_She fell onto the mattress, cradling Draco’s face in her hands._

_“Is- Is that_ Malfoy _?”_

_“Chaps, we don’t have time for this! Bill, grab the boy and let’s go!”_

_“We should just leave him,” someone muttered._

_“NO!” Hermione screamed, leaning over Draco’s head. “He needs some of that paste!”_

_“Hermione,” someone, a woman – Tonks, she recognized – knelt down in front of her and grasped her shoulders, “Bill will apply the Dittany and we’ll all meet back up at Shell Cottage. I promise. I need you to go with Harry.”_

_Hermione shook her head wildly, her lips trembling, then screamed in surprise, horror, rage as two sets of hands dragged her away from the mattress. And Draco._

_“NO! DRACO!”_

_“Take her! GO!” Tonks roared._

_“NO! LET ME GO!”_

_Harry shifted her in his arms, wrapping them tightly around her chest, and_ _ignored her tearful pleas as he spun on his heel._

_Everything went dark._

-

January 5, 1999

“Pup is Draco’s,” she stated quietly.

-

_Hermione woke up wrapped in a heavy set of limbs. She didn’t know how many days had passed, but she could tell that her heat was over. She felt… well, ‘amazing’ couldn’t really describe it._

_Her body felt blissful, glowing, exquisite._

_She uncurled her legs and stretched, languishing in the euphoric feeling. Almost instantly, Draco’s arms tightened around her middle, his hands finding their way down to her belly._

_“You’re with pup,” he grunted into her ear, planting a kiss below the lobe that sent a shiver of arousal down her spine._

_“I know.”_

_“I’ll always take care of you, of our pup,” Draco murmured at her throat, breathing in the smell of her skin._

_“Mmm…” Her Omega crooned. Hermione smiled and bit her lower lip, arching her back, her arse settling into his groin – and his growing length._

_“_ Always _,” he emphasized huskily, trailing kisses down the column of her neck, sucking and licking at the mating mark on her gland. A hand left her womb, feathering down her leg, then hooked around her knee to draw her leg over his. He ran the tip of his cock through her sodden folds and she gasped as he plunged in._

_Groaning into the curve of her shoulder, he began to pant as he thrust, swift and hard. It didn’t take long for Hermione’s head to fall back onto his shoulder and she cried out as her orgasm engulfed her, warmth flooding her veins, her cunt clamping down hard on his cock. He grunted, and with a last thrust, his hips stuttered as he released inside her._

_Draco kissed her shoulder then collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily, pulling Hermione in with him._

_“I love you so much, Draco,” she whispered into the room, watching as the ceiling shifted from cathedral beams and stone into a clear, night sky, filled with clusters of bright stars – and right in the center of it all, the constellation of Draco the Dragon._

_She gasped inaudibly._

_It was beautiful._

_Placing a kiss on her temple, he slipped out of her core and stretched before climbing over her, wading the short distance through stacks of glasses, piles of plates, and trays littered with half-eaten food, to the loo._

_She sat up, astonished she didn’t feel sore, then stood, looking around the tiny space that served them so well. Food appeared during their lulls; Draco fed her what she could stomach before her fever would spike and her cunt gushed slick. Pitchers of water and pumpkin juice kept refilling themselves, staying so cold that beads of condensation rolled down the sides and puddled around the base._

_The sheets, their nest, were stained with their combined fluids, torn and tattered from intense mating sessions. But still soft and sweet from the times when they could make slow, sensual love._

_She couldn’t help but smile, sighing happily._

_Then she looked down her body and brought her hands to settle on her lower stomach. There was a pup growing in there, and while that should scare the Hermione Granger that had so many big, bright, beautiful plans for her future, she was not at all surprised to find peace with it. A pup – a_ baby _– didn’t mean she couldn’t achieve her dreams._

_Neither did being a werewolf. She’d make sure of that._

_Hands wrapped around her middle – pulling Hermione out of her thoughts - and settled over her own on her belly. Draco nuzzled her scent gland, running his nose up her neck and kissed her jaw._

_“What are you thinking about?”_

_“Our pup. Our futures.”_

_Spinning her around to face him, he cupped her cheeks, his grey gaze meeting her chocolate._

_“Whatever happens, we’ll get through it together. I promise.”_

_Her hands wrapped Draco in a hug, and she rested her cheek against his chest._

_“What about the war?” she breathed mournfully. “I don’t remember much, but I think I remember Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey talking. They were holding you at the Ministry?”_

_Draco sighed, kissing the top of her head, and then moved away from her. Amongst the rubbish on the floor, he picked up a pair of black trousers and pulled them on. Bending down, he snatched up his Oxford and handed it to her._

_Tugging her arms through the long sleeves, she clasped the buttons and sat next to Draco on the bed. He intertwined their fingers, running his thumb across her knuckles, and sucked in a breath._

_“They know I fought on… your side in the end. But_ I _let the Death Eaters in last year._ I _was supposed to kill Dumbledore-“ Draco’s voice wavered._

_Hermione inhaled, trying to steady her own voice. “You were forced, Draco. No, listen to me! You were forced. You told me yourself how Voldemort threatened your family. I was there! At the Manor! I heard what Bellatrix was saying… And why your father was forced to send you to Greyback. You can fight this! I’ll be your witness! Harry, too!”_

_Draco barked out a laugh. “Potter hates me. He’ll witness for Mother, but not for me.”_

_Hermione’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Why would he witness for your mother?”_

_He turned to look at her. “I thought you knew? She lied to the Dark Lord. She told him Potter was dead, in the forest.”_

_She gasped. “Really?”_

_Draco nodded._

_Hermione was momentarily stunned. So many thoughts flew through her head, questions and theories she was dying to explore, but they’d need to wait. Those weren’t important right now._

_She cleared her throat, speaking softly. “You also didn’t give us away at the Manor.”_

_There was a long stretch of silence before Draco’s breath stuttered out of his mouth._

_“But I almost didn’t speak for you, either, at the end. I don’t know how you could forget that. I don’t… know how you can love me after that.”_

_“Draco Malfoy!” Hermione snapped, suddenly angry, “Don’t do that! We talked about this. Before Dumbledore died, we talked about this. Stop trying to vilify yourself.”_

_He let go of her hand and gathered her into his arms, squeezing her, then felt hot tears seep through her shirt and soak into her skin._

_“_ You _are the only person I’ve ever loved like this, Draco. Even though we didn’t get to follow the normal ebbs and flows of teenage love, post-school love…” she took a deep breath, refocusing her words, “Despite how it happened, despite… being bitten and cursed, you are my mate, and_ we _are going to have a pup next year.”_

_Draco pulled away from her and crashed his lips onto hers in a searing kiss. “You brought light into my life, Hermione. Brought me out of the dark, showed me more compassion and love than- than I deserve.”_

_Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and she gripped the sides of his face, bringing him in for another kiss. “You deserve happiness, Draco. True happiness.”_

_Draco was silent for a moment. “We need to run away.”_

_“Wait… Draco, if you are tried at the Ministry, I know you’ll be acquitted. We need to try to start our post-Voldemort lives off on the right foot-“_

_“Hermione, you forget we’re werewolves. I’m a defected Death Eater. You’re pregnant with a full-blooded werewolf pup-“_

_“The pup-“_

_“_ Listen. _Do you really think_ _a post-war Ministry that is already hell bent on sentencing Death Eaters to life terms, or_ worse _… Where prejudices against beasts like werewolves run deep…” he trailed off and sucked in a breath, “Do you really think_ they’re _going to give us a fair shot?”_

 _“Remus… Draco, Remus was a werewolf. He was in the Order. He was friends with Ministry officials, high ranking ones at that. Kingsley- Kingsley was good friends with Remus. I think they were saying he would Interim Minister of Magic until the Wizengamot can vote. We have friends in the Ministry, Draco. Harry! Harry’s my best friend! He’ll vouch for us- for_ you _!”_

_Draco scoffed bitterly._

_“He_ will. _You are not a bad person, Draco. You were just a product of your upbringing. The fact that you fell in love with a Muggle-born, risked your life, very nearly_ gave _your life for me- twice! That speaks volumes. I want to start my life with you - have our pup - the right way.”_

_Sighing heavily, he nodded. “Okay. It’ll have to be after the full moon, though. It’s in three days.”_

_Hermione froze. She had forgotten. Not that they were bitten, cursed, and doomed to live the rest of their lives breaking their bones once a month because that was hard to forget. She had forgotten that, in the sanctuary of their little ten-by-ten room, in the several days that had passed since her heat began, in the week or longer since the war, since they lost so many, that Draco was due for his first full moon. And the closer she looked at him, the more that fact stood out. The purple bruises that were forming under his eyes. His beautiful grey, dull and bloodshot. Even his canines had elongated slightly._

_Fear flared in her chest. “Wolfsbane?”_

_He shook his head. “Not enough time for it to take effect. I should have started taking it days ago.”_

_“Draco-“_

_“It’s… okay. I’ll chain myself up in the Shrieking Shack and… It’ll be okay.”_

-

January 5, 1999

Silence.

-

_Her head ached. Pounded. She cracked her eyes open and the light assaulted her vision, making her clench them tightly shut again. She felt vomit rise in her throat with the pain and she slowly exhaled through pursed lips. The next sensation she felt was her skin tightening uncomfortably as she attempted to turn her neck. The skin was taut, and she reached her fingers up, brushing them softly over two crescent moon-shaped sets of teeth marks. Her breath hitched in her chest when the memories began to flood behind her eyes._

Malfoy Manor and her friends’ escape.

Greyback taking her and holding her in a cave.

Scabior bringing…

_She inhaled sharply._

Scabior bringing Draco to the cave.

Greyback biting them both.

Then Harry, Ron, Tonks, and Bill… Rescuing them.

Draco.

_“Draco?” Hermione’s voice was hoarse and came out her mouth in a low croak._

_“Hermione? Thank, Merlin!”_

_Ron’s voice._

_Hermione groaned and cracked her eyes open again, trying to push herself up on her elbows._

_“Ron… where’s Draco?”_

_“Here. Let me help you.”_

_She felt hands on her shoulders pulling her into a sitting position. Everything hurt. Her head, her skin, her muscles, her bones. She groaned again._

_“Ron, where’s Draco?” she asked again, pressing her fingers into her temples._

_“Fleur said you’ll need another one of these,” he said, pushing a vial into her hand. He was avoiding her question and she began to feel irritation flare in her stomach. Irritation, but… also fear. Was Ron not answering her question because Draco…  
_

_“Ronald, where is Draco?” Hermione asked for a third time, but her words were clipped._

_He sighed, his own irritation lacing the sound. “The git is being held in another room.”_

_“Being held?” she bit out, opening her eyes to look at Ron. He was sitting across from her in a wooden chair, a scowl present on his face. It was an all-too familiar expression when it came to Draco Malfoy, and she scoffed, attempting to stand._

_The room whirled and she swayed on her feet before sitting back down._

_“Hermione, it’s only been two days. You need to rest. Take that,” Ron said, gesturing to the vial in her hand, “It’s a pain potion.”_

_“No,” she retorted. “Why is Draco being held?”_

_“Because he’s a Death Eater, Hermione. Why else?” He looked at her like she was mad. His scowl transformed into incredulity, eyebrow cocked, head tilted to the side, examining her. She didn’t like it._

_Her brows furrowed. “I want to see him.”_

_“Really, Hermione? You want to see Malfoy? A Death Eater? A… werewolf?”_

_Her jaw dropped open. “Excuse me?”_

_“He was bitten. He’ll change with the next full moon-“_

_“_ I _was bitten, too, Ron. I’ll transform. Or did you forget about that?”_

_He had the decency to flush and looked down at his hands, fidgeting in his chair as if he were uncomfortable._

_It irritated her even more, and she growled in her throat._

_The back of her head tingled, her skin prickled, and a nervous energy began to build in her gut. Her hands twitched and a lick of anger went up her spine. Something foreign, primal, animalistic,_ protective _had Hermione on her feet, swaying only slightly, as she towered over Ron sitting in his chair._

 _“Did you also forget that_ Remus _is a werewolf? Maybe one’s prejudices aren’t completely the fault of the family they’re brought up in.” She didn’t spare him a second glance as she tested her balance by walking out of the room._

_As soon as the door closed behind her, she halted. She was struck by noise. The sounds of waves breaking against a shore. Conversations, low voices she shouldn’t be able to hear three stories above ground level. Then the smells met her nose, the sea salt and fish in the air, blood, sweat, even sex. It was sensory overload, and it made her stumble back into the door._

_It opened and she fell into Ron’s arms._

_“I’m sorry. You’re right. I just… I hate Malfoy. We should have just left him in that cave. The prat would have got what he deserves.”_

_Hermione was instantly infuriated. She righted herself and twisted around, a deep rumbling growl reverberating in her chest. “What he_ deserves _? You don’t know him. You don’t know what he’s been through. You… Ron, you need to-“_

_“Is everything okay?”_

_Hermione’s nostrils flared. The sea salt was stronger now, but there was also an undercurrent of something musty, like a forgotten wet flannel that had been sitting for days. She wrinkled her nose and turned her head._

_Bill Weasley was standing at the edge of the staircase, his eyes trained on her. They flashed gold before focusing on Ron, his look indecipherable._

_“Yeah. Yeah… Everything’s fine,” Ron said, scooting past Hermione and walking towards Bill. “She wants to know where Malfoy is being kept.”_

_He didn’t look at her as he bounded down the stairs, leaving her alone with Bill. She turned around to fully face him, sniffing the air again as his scent grew stronger. She covered her nose, trying not to gag._

_“Bill, you smell awful,” Hermione said, waving her hand in front of her face trying to get rid of the smell of must and mold._

_He chuckled. “Yeah, that happens when you encounter a mated wolf.”_

_Hermione looked at him, then scanned his body. “But you’re not full wolf.”_

_Bill shrugged. “Remus said some aspects of lycanthropy are present among all those cursed, bitten – or scratched - under a full moon or not. I may not transform on the full moon, but I bit my mate, same as he did. My eyes flash gold around female wolves, same as Remus. My senses are heightened, though not as fine as a full wolf’s… and I like my meat still bleeding.”_

_Hermione crinkled her nose again, wanting to be disgusted at the mention of raw, bleeding meat, but instead her stomach growled painfully._

_He chuckled again and turned, taking a few steps down, waving at her to follow him._

_She didn’t move._

_“Where’s Draco?”_

_“Downstairs with Remus. Take that pain potion, you’ll need it.”_

_That got her moving. Quickly uncorking the vial and swigging back the pungent liquid, she grimaced then followed Bill down the stairs, taking care not to breathe through her nose. They stepped off the final stair and Hermione looked around. They were in a small living space, two full-size sofas framing a large, empty fireplace. Off to the right was a doorway, and through it, she heard pots and pans clinking together, the muffled conversations of people talking in hushed tones, though not too low that she couldn’t hear Ron complaining to Harry about Draco in the next room. She rolled her eyes and sighed audibly._

_Bill turned and gave her a small smile. “My brother is-“_

_“A child,” Hermione interrupted. She looked around the space again, running her palms down the joggers she had been changed into._

_Suddenly she heard scuffling from behind her and she twisted on instinct, eyes narrowing at the wooden door as it began to slide open. A burst of air hit her face that made her inhale deeply, the scent of freshly mown grass and green apples igniting something feral in her gut. Moisture gathered in her knickers._

_Alpha!_

_As sudden as it appeared, it dissipated, and Hermione was simultaneously disturbed at the loss and embarrassed by her reaction as Remus stepped out of the room, closing it behind him._

_Both Bill and Remus sniffed the air, and she flushed knowing they could smell her._

_“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Hermione. It’s natural for female wolves to feel… aroused when an unmated wolf is nearby,” Remus offered with a kind smile, clasping his hands in front of his person._

_His explanation didn’t help her embarrassment. Just because the delicious smell had faded from her sensitive olfactory receptors didn’t mean her brain forgot, which was a problem for the steady tingle in her clit and the slick that pooled in her knickers. She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet, her flush growing hotter the longer the two men stared at her._

_She looked down at her feet, awkwardness growing around them, and she brought her hands to her hips before throwing her head back onto the nape of her neck in frustration – sexual and otherwise._

_“Can I see him?” she finally asked, bringing her gaze back to Remus, who was still smiling softly at her._

_He tucked his chin and then gave her a swift nod, stepping aside. She cleared her throat and avoided Remus’ eye when she walked forward, then twisted the knob on the door and stepped inside the room._

_She didn’t get much of a chance to look at her surroundings before Draco was on her, pushing the door shut behind them, pulling her into him, his nose buried in her hair._

_“You smell… Merlin, Hermione. I thought you smelled good before, but… I nearly barreled Lupin down when he opened the door the first time. Honeysuckle, shortbread, black tea with a dash of cream.” He pulled away from her, meeting her gaze. She gasped when his grey flashed gold, and he swooped down to capture her lips in a searing kiss._

_Her arms swept up around his neck, standing on tip toes to deepen their kiss. She moaned against his lips, parting them, allowing Draco entry. His tongue swept across hers and she nearly wept as he cupped her arse, lifting her until her legs wrapped themselves around his waist._

_“Draco, Draco… I need you,” Hermione mumbled as his lips left hers to trail kisses down the side of her neck._

_He grunted, waving his hand at the door, then walked them to the other side of the room, and pushed her against a wall. His lips left her clavicle, passing over an incredibly sensitive bit of skin that sent shockwaves directly to her clit, causing her to cry out._

_“What was-“_

_“Scent gland,” he murmured, pulling back just enough to hook his fingers into the waistband of her joggers and sliding them down her arse to settle at her knees. His fingers found the gusset of her knickers and pushed them to the side, running his fingers through her drench folds._

_“Fucking… Hell,” Draco grunted into her gland, sliding a digit into her core._

_She gasped._

_He slid in a second._

_She moaned._

_He pumped his fingers through her slick, in and out, his thumb finding her clit and flicking the swollen bud._

_“Oh, Gods, Draco. Mmm… Please, ah, please…” Hermione panted, her forehead resting against his shoulder as his fingers played with her, teasing her._

_She almost couldn’t take it anymore before he pulled his digits from her cunt with a lewd squelch, and held her up with a single hand while the other worked at the belt at his waist._

_“You’re going to feel so good on my cock, Omega,” he huffed into her ear as he slid down his zipper. He didn’t say anything else before he lined himself up with her entrance and repositioned his hands on her hips before thrusting up into her._

_“_ Fuck _!” Hermione moaned into his neck, finding the swollen bit of skin tucked underneath his jaw, lapping at it._

_His grunting turned feral as he slid out, then pounded into her. It was fast, and hard, brutal, even, the way his hips slapped against the back of her thighs, the way the sounds of skin-on-skin echoed in the room, the way their pants turned into growls._

_The ever-tightening coil in her lower belly suddenly sprang loose and Hermione screamed, stars exploding behind her eyes as her cunt clenched onto Draco’s cock, fluttering around him, begging him to come inside her._

_With a last thrust, his lips gathered the skin of her scent gland and sucked, a guttural moan vibrating in his throat as he came, releasing into her as her quim greedily soaked it up._

_He pulled his head back from her, meeting her hazy gaze, and his brows furrowed. “Mine.”_

_Breathing heavily, she smiled beatifically, planting a chaste kiss on his lips. Returning her smile, he nipped at her lip before sliding his still-twitching cock from her core and lowered her to the floor._

_“Can you stand?” he asked as she wobbled on her legs. After a moment, she nodded and huffed out a laugh, fixing her knickers and pulling up her joggers. She watched as Draco tucked himself back into his pants, then buttoned his trousers before carding a hand through his platinum blond hair._

_“I’ve missed us,” Hermione said, grabbing his arm. Draco stared at her for a moment before dragging her in for a tight hug._

_“Gods, Hermione… You have no idea,” he stated, kissing the top of her head, squeezing her into him._

_He unwrapped his arms after a moment, placing a soft kiss to her lips and stepped back. Finally, Hermione looked around the room and was mildly surprised to find they were in a small study. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, and in the center of the room were two desks sitting back-to-back, small lamps alight on the tops with piles of books – some open – next to the lamps. Rolls of parchment and quills with ink wells laid by the books, and it looked as if someone had been taking notes._

_A thrill of curiosity pulsed through her and she stepped towards the desk, peering onto the parchment. Lycanthropy, how it’s contracted. What happens during a wolf’s first full moon. Mates. Mating. Alpha. Beta. Omega. Heats. Pups._

_Hermione turned to look at Draco and he nodded with a small sigh, walking around her and placing his hand on the desk._

_“Lupin has been… teaching me. About it. What to expect during our first full moons- Well,_ mine _, actually,” he stated, cupping the back of his head, his gaze settling on her profile as she studied the notes he’d taken so far._

_“What do you mean?”_

_“Erm… For female werewolves, they go into their first heat a week before their first moon. Chances of conception during their first heat is very nearly guaranteed. Something like a ninety-nine per cent chance of getting with pup.”_

_Hermione gasped. “That’s why…” she cleared her throat, “That’s why Greyback was so sure he was going to, erm, get me with pup after he mated me.”_

_Draco growled deep in his throat, but nodded. “Yes.”_

_“So… When is our first moon?” Her eyes met his. She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth as his eyes flashed gold._

_“The eleventh of May,” he muttered._

_“And today is… ?”_

_“The thirteenth of April.”_

_Hermione exhaled through pursed lips. “Okay. Okay. Three weeks. We have three weeks to figure all of this out and another week to… Find a place for us to transform.”_

_Confusion passed over his features. “Hermione, you’re going to go through your first heat on the fourth of May. If I… If an Alpha takes care of you during your heat, you’ll get with pup and you won’t transform until the month after the pup is born.”_

_“Oh,” she breathed._

-

January 5, 1999

Hermione stuttered out a breath.

-

_She replayed her fight with Draco for days leading up to the planned break in at Gringotts. He adamantly forbade her to go, his Alpha essentially demanding her submission. But her Omega wasn’t in control. Not to an Alpha. His Alpha. Not yet. She knew he was afraid, she knew he was scared they’d never see each other again… And as they laid together the night before she left, as she took his cock and rode him hard, as he sucked and nibbled on her scent gland, whispering promises of claiming her during her heat, she did cry, tears streaking down her cheeks as she mourned for a future that had yet to be written…. a future she was terrified would never come to pass._

_She slipped away early that morning, stealing back into her own room before Harry and Ron came looking for her. She refused to look back at Draco while he slept knowing if she did, she might not leave. They couldn’t afford for her not to go with the boys. She needed to pretend to be Bellatrix, get into her vault, steal the Horcrux. Then maybe… just maybe, if they were quick about it, they’d be home in time for dinner._

_It’s frustrating how things never quite seem to go according to plan. As she had thought repeatedly about her fight with Draco, she could only minutely recall the details of the Battle of Hogwarts, the battle that changed lives. The battle that ended it all._

_They’d stolen Hufflepuff’s chalice, flew on the back of a dragon to escape Gringotts, dove into a lake off said dragon, and with Harry’s unavoidable connection to Voldemort, he figured out the last Horcrux was at Hogwarts._

_Harry took off to solve the riddle of Ravenclaw’s diadem and a conundrum lead Ron and Hermione to the Chamber of Secrets. To give him credit, it_ was _a brilliant idea. What wasn’t brilliant was the unexpected, heated kiss he placed on her lips after they stabbed the golden chalice. She didn’t say anything as she stumbled out of the Chamber after Ron, her arms full of Basilisk fangs. She didn’t have it in her to tell him – especially while they were literally fighting for their lives – that they would be nothing more than friends._

_They flew through the Room of Requirement on broomsticks, trying to outmaneuver Draco’s old cronies, one of whom lost his life to his own Fiendfyre. They were knocked back when a corridor exploded – taking Fred’s life. The three of them weaved through wreckage, bodies, ongoing duels. Hermione even thought she once saw a streak of platinum shooting sparks at hooded Death Eaters._

_They raced down the marble staircase, careful to avoid the shattered House hourglasses, gems of emerald, ruby, diamond, and sapphire strewn across the floor causing people to slip and slide as they ran for their lives. Two bodies fell from the balcony above, catching the trio’s attention, and as if in slow motion, Hermione saw him. Crouched on all fours, Greyback attached himself to Lavender Brown’s neck, tearing into her carotid, lapping and slurping at her blood._

_Hermione’s feet were lead as she stared in horror, raising her wand. “NO!”_

_At the sound of her voice, Greyback’s head popped up and his pupils blossomed, swallowing his golden orbs. He stood, kicking away Lavender’s limp body and held his arms out to her, a gruesome smile on his face, his teeth stained with blood._

_“My Omega bitch. I was wondering if I’d see you here,” he inhaled deeply, “You’re so close, pet. So close to your heat. I can_ smell _your sweet little cunt even through the musk of blood in the air.”_

_“You fucking disgusting piece of shite!” Ron bellowed by her side, brandishing his own wand._

_“Stay away from her,” Harry said in a deadly calm voice,_ _stepping in front of Hermione._

 _Greyback howled with laughter and began to take a step toward them when a bright white flash suddenly lit up the room and a resounding_ crack _echoed in the hall as the werewolf slumped to the ground._

_Hermione’s eyes were wide as she stared at the crumbled form of her sire, enthralled as a puddle of his blood began to grow underneath his head. She watched the dark red substance creep closer to her, unbridled joy exploding in her gut and manic laughter bubbling in her throat._

_Greyback was dead._

_“Hermione, we need to go-“ A tug at her sleeve._

_“He’s dead, ‘Mione. Let’s go. We need to get to the Whomping Willow-“ A hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her through her haze of elation – and the underlying shock that was slowly working its way to the surface._

_She struggled to remember the rest. She watched Snape die. Harry had disappeared and then reappeared seemingly dead in Hagrid’s arms. Through the rest of the battle, after Harry jumped up and dueled Voldemort, after she brought her wand up against her first tormentor, Bellatrix, after Draco emerged from the settling dust, his own wand pointed at his aunt... She cackled and guffawed, leering at them both, proclaiming to all whom would listen that her disgusting blood-traitor nephew and his Mudblood whore were werewolves who should die like the filthy dogs they were, before sending a killing curse that nearly collided with Ginny._

_Bellatrix died at Mrs. Weasley’s hand._

_Voldemort then died at Harry’s._

_The silence was deafening as time stopped, as wands were lowered, as confusion began to morph into realization. Then cries and cheers erupted as everyone celebrated._

_Hermione drug Draco into a shadowy alcove, leapt into his arms, and kissed him like she was drowning._

_Because Draco Malfoy was the air she needed._

-

January 5, 1999

All fight left Hermione. She didn’t have it in her anymore to defend herself, defend her reason for seeking Bill out after so many months. She pushed her Omega to the far reaches of her psyche, and just…

She inhaled a shaky sob, and her wails burst out of her mouth, tears flowed in rivers down her cheeks. The pain… the pain was too great. It hurt too much. Her heart… her heart felt like it was being squeezed. She felt sick to her stomach. She…

She…

She wanted to die, too.

-

_“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Hermione asked for the third time, her hand unconsciously rubbing the small round of her belly as he straightened the chains attached to the walls of the Shrieking Shack._

_Draco smiled at her tiredly, and brushed his hand against her cheek. “Much like the last four months, I’ll just sit here and wait for daybreak. I wish I could read while in wolf form, though.”_

_She chuckled and pressed a kiss to his palm. “At least you’re not…”_

_He nodded._

_Her breath stuttered out nervously and she shifted on her feet. The full moon brought about a lot of anxiety – for them both. She couldn’t transform while she was with pup, but she could still feel the effects of the moon ripple under her skin, a reminder that she was but a few short months from_ her _first change._

_Her mind wandered as Draco stepped away, rattling and pulling the chains to ensure they wouldn’t break. She still had so much to do before her first transformation. She would need to find someone to watch pup. She thought… she’d thought about contacting Harry or Ron, but after months without communication – even going so far as to ignore their incessant owls except for the occasional ‘Everything’s fine. Contact you soon,’ return letter – they’d be shocked, probably heartbroken, to learn she was pregnant._

_Especially Ron, she recognized._

_She thought of Remus and Tonks, how they would understand, how Tonks would gladly watch after pup the same way she’d watched after her own during Remus’ monthly change. But they were both dead and baby Teddy was orphaned._

_The familiar pull of heavy sorrow weighed her down and she wrapped her arms around her middle, bringing a hand to her mouth to try to stifle a sob. Draco’s arms immediately pulled her into him, squeezing her, shushing her, planting kisses on her temple. She knew he could feel it, too. Greyback sired them all and while each of them were dispersers from his pack, they still shared a cursed bond. A bond that could be cracked by death._ Had _been cracked by death._

_She was suddenly ripped away from her pain when she heard floorboards creak behind them. A pungent odor filled the room and Hermione whipped around, her heart dropping into her stomach, ice in her veins._

_Draco’s low growl erupted in his throat as he stepped around Hermione, separating her and the intruder._

_“I see I’m too late to get the bitch with pup,” Greyback mused, a mixture of envy, venom, and mirth lacing his words._

_He couldn’t… he couldn’t be here. He died! The motherfucker died! She_ watched _him die! Hermione stood shellshocked as the werewolf stood leaning against the doorframe to the tiny room, his hairy arms crossed over his bare chest. His facial features showed no emotion, but his lupine golden eyes were trained on her, and were so full of hatred, full of revenge, she couldn’t help but shrink back._

_“No matter. I’ll just rip the whelp out and we’ll start anew, yeah?” he slithered, pushing himself off the door._

_Draco growled menacingly in his throat, an Alpha warning to stay away. Greyback just chuckled._

_“You think you’re a match for me, boy? I’ve lived this life decades longer than you’ve been alive. You wouldn’t last a minute against me. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. After I rip your heart out, I’m going to watch as it stops pumping in my hand. Then, I’m going to eat your-“_

_“Stop!” Hermione shouted as bile rose in her throat, an arm curling against her womb, her other hand reaching out in front of her as a blast erupted from the end of her wand, sending the werewolf into the hallway._

_“GO!” Draco roared, reaching around her shoulders, and pushed her out of the door. She clambered over Greyback’s legs as she ran up the dark passageway leading out of the Whomping Willow knowing she couldn’t risk Greyback getting loose in Hogsmeade if he followed her; she wouldn’t allow him to harm other people like this._

_Screams and shouts turned into growls and howls and yips, the sounds echoing around her as she ran. The moon… Did it rise already? Panic flared in her chest as she scrambled up the dirt tunnel, slipping on a wet rock, tumbling to the ground. A nasty crunch echoed in her ears and she sat up, staring in horror as her snapped wand met her eyes, barely hanging on by a single strand of dragon heartstring. She didn’t have time to mourn the loss of the only defensive weapon she had as the sounds grew louder. Gasping, she pulled herself to her feet and frantically pushed on the knot to open the secret entrance. Crawling out of the tunnel, there was only a hairsbreadth of time before the two wolves flew out of the small opening, snarling and clawing for dominance._

_Hermione eyed Draco’s familiar blonde wolf as they separated, circling each other, teeth bared, drool dripping down his long canines. His gold eyes were focused on Greyback, flicking toward her only briefly before the other wolf jumped and landed on his back, biting into his neck. Draco yelped, and used his back legs to push Greyback off him, leaving a bloody trail down his neck._

_“Draco!” Hermione shrieked in terror as she got to her feet and took a step toward him._

_Out of the corner of her eye, a grey blur caught her attention, and she twisted her head in time to see Greyback leap at her. A bloodcurdling scream lodged in her throat, her feet froze to the earth, and just as she was about to curl her body away from the werewolf’s clawed fingers, he was knocked off balance as Draco collided with him._

_Hermione crumpled to her knees, watching helplessly as her mate and their sire warred, claws digging into fur, jaws clenching around appendages, teeth ripping into flesh, the inhuman noises erupting from them both as they tumbled out of view._

_Her heart pounded in her chest as she got to her feet again, adrenaline pushing her legs forward, fear feeding the ache in her gut. She ran to the noises, past trees and bushes, following a steady trail of blood like breadcrumbs until she came into a clearing, her feet turning to lead as she internalized the scene in front of her._

_Draco was standing on his hindlegs behind Greyback, his elongated digits pressing on either side of the wolf’s head as the grey beast struggled against his hold. With a sickening crunch, Greyback’s head twisted on his shoulders and the wolf fell at Draco’s feet._

_Hermione was still as she eyed Greyback’s limp form, and when he didn’t return to his feet, relief flooded her, feeling began to return to her numb limbs. She couldn’t help the tears from pooling in her eyes, bringing her hand to her mouth and she began to sob. The threat to their family – a threat she had thought died five months earlier – was gone for good. Happiness swooped inside her as she tore her eyes from Greyback to find Draco._

_His back was to her, his shoulders heaving, his head bowed on his chest. She took a step toward him, careful to avoid stepping on forest litter. He’d had his Wolfsbane, he’d have retained his human mind, but after the fight, after allowing his wolf take over for this, after ensuring his place as Alpha, she knew she had to approach him slowly._

_“Draco,” Hermione said softly, holding her hand out to him as she took another step. Then another. And another until she stood five feet from him. Her eyes flickered down to Greyback’s lifeless form, just to make sure he wasn’t breathing, just to make sure it wasn’t too good to be true. She brought her hand to her mouth again as she stared into his glossy, grey eyes._

_The eyes of death._

_She exhaled._

_“Draco? It’s okay, love. You did it. Greyback’s dead. He’s gone. We’re safe. Pup is safe,” Hermione stated firmly, knowing he needed to hear these things so his wolf could be pushed back to the recesses of his human mind._

_The next instance didn’t make sense to Hermione. She watched as Draco’s wolfy form twitched and shrank, bones crunching and twisting until he stood in his human form, his back still to Hermione. Then he collapsed._

_She gasped._

_Running to him, she slid on fallen leaves as she rolled him to his back, cupping his ashen face in her hands._

_His platinum blonde hair was filthy, streaked with mud and blood. There were gashes on his face, an open bite wound on his neck. Nothing too bad. Nothing Dittany couldn’t take care of._

_“Draco?”_

_His eyes met hers and he reached up a hand, his fingers brushing against her jaw. Then he smiled, a film of red painting his teeth, and he coughed, blood gurgling out of his mouth and dribbling down his chin._

_Hermione’s brows furrowed in confusion, a wave of panic rushing through her. His injuries… he shouldn’t be coughing up blood. Her mind scrambled for an explanation. Internal bleeding?_

_“I love you, Hermione.”_

_His words sounded so final. Her hands went numb as a sickening feeling began to overpower her. A feeling of…_

_No. She wouldn’t think about that._ That _wouldn’t happen._

_“Draco, love, we need… If I had a wand, I could send a Patronus. I-“_

_“Hermione,” he said, cutting her off, bringing his hand to rest on hers. “I have lived in darkness for so long-“_

_“Draco, we-“_

_“No! I need to tell you this… tell you again. You brought me out of the darkness, Hermione. From that moment in the library, you helped me see the light. You are the light in my dark life,” he coughed again, blood splattering onto his chin._

_Her eyes roamed over his face, she felt the skin of his hand grow cold on hers, and pain erupted in her chest. “Draco, you will_ not _leave me here. Come on. We need to get you to Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey can… she can help us.”_

_Draco shook his head, and his hand left hers, traveling down to rest on the bump of her abdomen._

_“You’ll tell her… Tell her that her daddy loved her so much, that he wanted to see her first steps, hear her first words… That…” he coughed once more, then gasped, blinking his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks._

_“Draco… Draco plea-“ she sobbed._

_“Hermione, I love you both so much… Kiss me.”_

_And she did._

-

February 7, 1999

“’Eremione, you need to breaze,” Fleur said calmly, rubbing Hermione’s knees.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as sobs escaped her throat. The pain was so bad. Not the pain of her crowning pup, never the pain of bringing their pup into the world. But the pain that her father would not be there to watch her birth…

_“There was a gash on his inner thigh.”_

_“A gash?”_

_“Yes. His femoral artery was shredded. He… There would have been no saving him, even with magic.”_

Another contraction tightened her belly, and she screamed as their pup’s head pushed against her opening.

“Hermione, you’re doing so well,” Harry’s voice said at her ear as she collapsed against the pillows. His hand wiped her sodden curls from her face, and he pressed a kiss against her forehead. “She’s almost here.”

_“I want to see my son!”_

_“I’m sorry, Mrs. Malfoy. You can’t. Not… Not yet.”_

_Painful sobs filled her ears, and she curled into herself, her arms wrapping around her belly._

“Wait… Urgh, wait. I need… I need to move,” Hermione groaned, pushing to her elbows. Hands grabbed her arms, helping her roll to her hands and knees.

“Alright, ‘Eremione, next contraction, and you need to push ‘ard!” Fleur coached, sitting by Hermione’s bum. “She is so close, ma chérie.” 

_“Can I see Miss Granger?” A defeated voice asked._

_“Mrs. Malfoy, she’s refusing all visitors.”_

_Another sob._

_“Then give this to her for me, please.”_

Her stomach tightened with another contraction and she grunted as she bore down, gritting her teeth, leaning on her forearms. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” Hermione whimpered. She felt burning, an intense fire as their pup’s head passed through. 

“She has so much ‘air!” Fleur exclaimed, “Do you want to feel ‘er ‘ead?” 

Hermione sobbed, but reached between her legs, caressing their pup’s head in the palm of her hand. 

“On ze next contraction, you need to push one more time. We can birz ‘er shoulders and your baby girl will be in ze world!” 

She inhaled deeply and the air came out as a shaky breath. She clutched Harry’s hand in hers and met his eyes. He smiled softly at her. 

“You’re about to be a mum, Hermione. You’ve done so well. So well,” he murmured, running his thumb across her knuckles. 

“I miss him so much, Harry. I miss him so much it feels like I’m dying,” she cried, dropping her head to the mattress, and shaking her head. Another contraction came before Harry could respond and she bore down one last time. 

Their pup’s body slid from hers and Hermione fell to the bed panting, her arms no longer able to bear her weight. 

The cries of a newborn filled the room. 

“Hermione, she’s beautiful!” Harry whispered, smoothing her hair from her face, his smile wide. 

She turned on her side as Fleur placed a tightly wrapped blanket in her arms and – _finally_ \- she looked onto the rosy pink face of their pup. Beneath the streaks of blood and thick coat of vernix, she could see their pup had Draco’s fair hair. Her face was scrunched in a familiar scowl that made Hermione laugh through her tears… it was so like her father’s.

And when the pup screeched, her little mouth rooting for a nipple to suckle, Hermione could feel a piece of her shattered heart stitch back into place. 

\- 

February 8, 1999 

Harry sat across from Hermione, watching as Fleur taught her different positions for nursing the new pup. He smiled to himself, then looked down at a thick booklet of parchment, the same parchment Mrs. Malfoy requested he give to Hermione. 

He unfolded the booklet, reading the cover page for the tenth time. It was a letter from the Malfoy matriarch, straight to the point, explaining how Draco’s inheritance was to be put into a separate Gringott’s account for the pup and how Hermione would have access to it at her leisure. The next few pages was the legal paperwork, reiterating that Draco’s sizeable account was now in Hermione’s name. The last piece of parchment was a letter to Hermione in Draco’s own hand, one that he refused to read. 

When Fleur left, Harry refocused his gaze on Hermione then stood, walking the few paces to the bed, sitting on the edge. He watched for a moment as the new pup greedily suckled, and he chuckled when she squeaked.

Sighing, he held up the parchment and held it out to her. He watched her face as it paled slightly when she recognized the family crest, and her gaze flicked up to Harry.

“Do you remember when Mrs. Malfoy came to Hogwarts after…” He trailed off. 

She didn’t acknowledge his statement, but he knew she knew what he was talking about.

“She left this with me. I did look at the first letter, just to make sure it wasn’t anything… Well, anything. But there’s another letter, Hermione.”

Tears shimmered in her eyes.

“From Draco.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment, but she reached out a shaky hand, taking the booklet of parchment and flipped it open, her eyes skimming the letter from Mrs. Malfoy. Hermione’s eyes widened, her gaze returning to Harry.

“I know.”

She flipped through the papers, setting them one by one on the bed next to her and when she reached Draco’s letter, a sob escaped her mouth.

“I don’t… I don’t know if I can read this,” Hermione said as tears streaked down her cheeks. “Harry, read to it me, please.”

He stared at her as she handed Draco’s letter back to him. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he read: 

_August 27, 1998_

_Hermione,_

_If you’re reading this, then it means something happened to me and for that, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I can’t be there when our pup is born. I’m sorry I can’t be there to see her take her first steps or hear her first words (Yes,_ her _. You should know by now that I’m always right). I’m sorry I can’t be there for_ you _._

 _We’ve had this conversation many times. From our trysts in the library during sixth year to the nightly pillow talk while lying on a bed made for one at The Hog’s Head - and every stolen moment in between… you brought light into my dark life._

_I was a shell of a human being, a pawn in my father’s game of chess, a puppet for a mad man – and you were the light at the end of that dark tunnel. You made me want to do better, be better. You have that effect on people, you know. And I’d like to think that, at the end of my life, I_ was _better._

 _I told you I’d always take care of you and our pup. That extends beyond the grave. I instructed Mother to transfer my inheritance into your account. Neither of you will ever want for anything._

_Hermione… my love. You have always been my first everything, and I am damned lucky that you were also my last._

_Please tell Cyra how much I loved her._

_I love you so much._

_Draco_

A tear escaped the cusp of Harry’s eye and he quickly wiped it away before looking at Hermione. Her eyes were closed, her head resting against the headboard, her cheeks stained with tears. But before he could open his mouth to say anything, she smiled softy then looked down at her dozing pup. 

The light of both their lives. 

“Welcome to the world, Cyra Lux Malfoy. Your daddy loved you so much.”

**Author's Note:**

> This whole story was so hard to write, but I absolutely lost it at the end. If it was as emotional for you as it was for me... I'm sorry.


End file.
